Chapter 5
It's the morning of the 8th day, the time that was given to us by the God to participate is over but we are yet to get any words from him.
The positive thing that happened over the last three days is that we are more aware of the situations now and got used to this life. Rian is much more confident now, he's finally speaking his mind and lily is opening up to us.
The day I saved Lily, I asked why she came outside even though it was dangerous and she said,
"Few days ago when I woke up, I didn't find mummy by my side. Usually she's always with me. So I called for her but I didn't get any response. I searched the house and found nobody. It was like everyone left the house and forgot me. I was so scared and suddenly someone said something in my ears, something about vanishing and game."
From this all i can think of is one possibility and that is, everyone in her family vanished and she was left alone. I'm sad just by thinking what it was like for her.
She later told me that since she was so afraid that she stayed in the house and only decided to leave to search for food when her fridge emptied. That's when I found her and saved her.
But there's no point in thinking about it. Let's just see what we have left for the food. But checking up on it I only found 2 cans of food but the mouths to feed slightly greater in number.
I looked at Lily and it seems like Rian is teaching her something with a book, but I don't see any point in it if we consider the situations right now. Silly kids don't think of anything before their desires, wait.. aren't adults just the same. They just justify it and make it sound like it's okay.
But as i got closer, i realized that Rian is telling her some escape strategies in case of emergencies that i told him. Guess, Rian matured much more than I realized.
"Here Rian and lily, here's food, eat it, I warmed it. One can for you each. Sorry but only this much is left."
But seeing that, lily looked at me with a confused face and said..
"But big brother, where is your food?"
"Don't worry, I ate just before asking you to eat. Now eat it before it gets cold."
I like it that she's actually saying her mind now, not hesitating. Now as soon as that God announces something I will have to come up with a plan for the future.
And I actually got engrossed into deep thinking, planning what to do next but then got taken out of it as soon as i realized the bright smiling face of lily started displaying the expressions which i never seen on her. She started crying in pain.
Maybe she's having a stomach ache, maybe the can food that I gave her was the expired one, god…why didn't I check if it was expired or not.
I panicked, this is the first time this kind of situation appeared before me and I don't know what to do. Maybe I should go find some medicine. My deep panic actually started turning into a mental breakdown or so I thought but one voice made me come out of it again..
"Big brother, I feel like my body is becoming weak, and there's pain in my tummy..big brother…"
Listening to her, I felt if it had something to do with the food but it turned my thoughts upside down as soon as I noticed that she's turning transparent and it looks like Rian noticed it as well.
"Big brother, do you have any medicine for the pain I'm feeling."
She came closer slowly and tried holding my hand but her hand passed through mine. It's as if a ghost is trying to hold something. She tried again and then noticed that her hand was turning transparent. She looked at me with teary eyes. Her eyes were enough to tell me how much suffering she was going through at that time. Looking at her I lamented my decision of having the will to survive in this world. How can one hope to survive such a world if the Gods are this cruel.
"Big brother.. what's happening to…"
But before she could finish it, she vanished into thin air like a cloud in a vast sky.
Rian, who's the same age as her, connected with her better than me. This incident got me panicked and then sad in the span of 2 minutes. I have better control over my emotions and somewhat I was ready for this kind of situation but Rian is different.
He's still a kid, he's maturing fast but a sudden incident like that must have him shaken emotionally. His expressions are frozen, this time he's trying not to cry. Maybe he realized that this kind of situation is going to become common.
But the life of a small kid isn't of any value in front of that God, maybe this world should really be subjected to doom having this kind of god.
"Ahem..hi you mortals, so i confirmed about 80000000 of you are ready to participate in this Game of ours. And so, I erased the ones who were not interested in participating. As for the game, we will begin it next week. Thank me.. I'm giving you all the time to prepare."
This isn't even the start of his game and only 80000000 people are left, what happened to the whole population. There's no way that only 4 Percent of the whole population is left?
No…thinking about it in a logical way, it might be possible as half the world population was already vanished and the left started killing each other, and many got vanished as well just now or Worse..the number could have gotten even lower.
The good point is that we got about a week before they start the game. I can't even begin to imagine if the participation condition was this horrible, how horrible will this actual game be?
"Big brother, what should we do next? I will follow you big bro, but please just don't leave me.."
Yeah, I'm not surprised. Best would be to abandon a kid even if they are a family in this kind of situation..but I'm not heartless. I don't even understand why Rian would even think of something like this, maybe he heard that we aren't real brothers.
"No never… we are brothers and brothers always.."
"Protect each other."
He finished the sentence with a smile.
"Good boy. Now listen..we are going to move from this place now tomorrow. So pack the things you need in your bag."
I think since there isn't any condition of killing to participate anymore, more people would avoid attacking but i think we might as well be cautious as there are psycho people as well who would kill just for fun.
In the morning, we packed our stuff and left the place in hope to find some food. I'm the one handling the gun and already told Rian to go hide as soon as something goes wrong. But it's been 3 days since then, we saw some people and we hid. We didn't know what would happen if we try to contact them. And it seems like many wild animals are roaming around since they can smell the meat rotting all around the city. And the worst thing is that we barely ate anything in the last 3 days. I feel like I can pass out anytime. Leave me, Rian is already panting and seems like he can fall anytime.
And in just a few minutes, he passed out. I should get him to shade and get something to eat as well as drink since we are really low on water as well.
I started carrying him on my back in hope to find a place that seems secure enough to us but unfortunately I feel like my legs are about to give up. My eyes started closing by themselves too and next thing I knew I fell. Maybe this is it for me, maybe this is how far i got in this game you started you damn god.
Next time I opened my eyes,I was in a room with candles lighting the rooms. There's no windows in here and I'm in a comfortable bed. It's the first time since then i got something this comfortable to lie on. My body still feels a bit tired but maybe it's not the time to laze around. Where's Rian?
He's not in the bed, and this hunger is still killing me from inside. I don't think I can move yet. But I have to get up, I have to find my brother.
But before I could even get up I heard someone walking towards the door and suddenly the door opened.
I immediately acted as if I'm still sleeping but guess.. I was late, as he spoke in a bold voice.
"So..you are finally awake Keith Parker."